To-Love-Ru Darkness OVA

Fosh //Yep this came out and boy I have to say in terms of laughs this was far more entertaining than Estetica, but I suppose it does help to have prior experience in the whole To LOVE-Ru anime series because I have seen all of season one and two along with the current running Darkness manga! Which is mostly NSFW with some story thrown in…so what if you haven’t seen any of the series or manga? Honestly I think this OVA is fairly easy for new fans to jump right into; however you will probably be confused about certain characters like the three pink haired siblings Lala, Momo (Aki Toyosaki) and Nana (Kanae Itou) who are aliens! Yeah I know aliens? What the hell is this? In short the OVA follows several one shots from the manga involving Rito aka the main character and his sister Mikan (Hanazawa Kana) almost heading for a random incest moment, Haruna turns into a cat and she ends up taking a shower as a cat with Rito only to transform back to normal mid shower! I heard there was another OVA coming out soon so you can look forward to that, but as far as the series goes I heard it comes out in October sometime and I have no idea if it will be uncensored like this again.

It was an ass week for ecchi shows

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Campione! — 07

lvlln //This episode played out the way I expected: lots of bad dialogue and Godou pulling out boring Campione powers to win. And this one was extra boring. Sure, his previous powers like super speed or strength were mundane, but at least they required him to move. This time, he just stood still while gathering rainbow colored power from his peers and blasting it at the enemy. Essentially a Genki Dama, except without the epicness of when Son Goku did it in Dragon Ball. And we got even more flying swords, this time edging rather close to Unlimited Blade Works territory with Godou changing the landscape. I don’t place much value on originality, but if you’re going to copy things, at least take something cool and make it even cooler. Don’t take something boring and make it even more boring.

To the show’s credit, the episode opened well. Because there was actual combat instead of enemies standing still and explaining their powers. Campione! is still very good on the technical end. The choreography and animation of the fight between Erica and Liliana were very pretty, and the CG and lighting were used well. This really is a solid action show when it tries to be. A shame it came to a screeching halt when Erica blackmailed Liliana into defecting with… knowledge about her romance novel. Seriously? Right after her big speech about being a loyal knight? I understand that she needs to be added to Godou’s harem, but there are plenty of much better ways to do that instead of making her a wuss when convenient.

But hey, at least Yuri got to give that history lesson, even if it paled in comparison to what we saw a few weeks ago. And next week is a beach/hot spring episode, which should mean moving away from the obscure technobabble of various religions and back to fanservice and eye candy. Now at the 2/3 point, it’s time for the show to dial things up. Here’s hoping it can deliver.

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Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai — 07

You think Lisara’s mom has got in goin’ on, or is she old and busted and Lisara is the new hotness?

Jrow //Jumping off from last week’s stirring conclusion, H puts out one of its better episodes since the premiere. A much-needed break from the typical situations of the previous 5 episodes, this week we got a step deeper into this other realm while tripping on a couple cliches along the way. The action was surely the best it’s been since the first episode and is one of the show’s strengths we haven’t really gotten to see flexed that much (an exception to ep. 5 when Graham was connected). As for fanservice, we get a new angle of Lisara’s body and some sexual healing with tongues that Gene Simmons would appreciate. You’d think Ryosuke would be basking in the healing ritual, but because that idiot got too cocky about charging in to save Mina, the confidence in his ero heart has been shot and he now rests naked in a bedroom waiting for Quele to blush before putting on her rape face. You see it coming a mile away just like that train during Mina’s flashback.

The best way to heal a groin injury…

Click for full-size

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Hagure Yuusha no Estetica — 07

Akatsuki-“Which one of you wants to become my number one?” Miu-“I thought I was….”

Fosh //Welcome back to this odd ball series, did you miss the last episode because you decided to skip it forever? Well you missed absolutely NOTHING! Yeah seriously nothing ever happens in Hagure Yuusha no Estetica; however we are dealing with your generic ecchi anime series and well they are known for having very poor stories. So Akatsuki got a brand new bike last time and now this week we are on the beach and since this is a beach episode you can expect to find the normal stuff aka guys stealing the girls bikinis, watermelons and various other “melons” found on the beach. This episode did manage to make me laugh because they actually had a mini game of hide and seek, but the point of that game was basically having a guy hide, but how do you win? Simple someone else has to steal your swim trunks…yeah…that was the worst game ever! Then again like I said it did make me laugh. Other than that bit of stupid fun there was a tiny bit of story progression with the world Miu comes from and I can only assume those people are planning on hunting Miu down and killing her? Of course Akatsuki is not going to let that happen so we might have some fighting next week.

We know clearly what camera man likes

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Who Is Imoutou? — 05

Karakuri //…I thought we had already solved all of this imouto problem, but after the break, it seems like this show got right back into it. Why? Wasn’t all of this solved? Aren’t Miyabi and Konoe still the safe choices? Or at least Konoe is pretty clear of suspicion at the moment (though of course Shougo didn’t even bother asking her, so who knows). Hell, even Sagara, the senpai, could be an imouto since March might not even be her birthday. …At least with this random regression, the show is still maintaining some form of a plot. I don’t know where this thing would go if there wasn’t a mystery imouto.

So back to the harem member of the day, Sagara. I understand the whole buying her mother’s cafe thing, but making it an imouto cafe is an odd choice. …Unless she IS the imouto and has a complex about it, but I figure I should be extremely doubtful of all of the characters from this point on. The way she avoided the article was pretty suspicious, but really, it could just be some scandal on Shougo’s family that she didn’t want him to see or something. There are a million possibilities why she wouldn’t want to show him. In any case, I don’t really know what to think of her character since she’s been so… generic. Really, Miyabi has a semi-tsundere thing going on and Konoe is the all around sweet girl, but Sagara seems to have a bunch of character quirks (imouto cafe, touching backstory, etc), but no real personality. Maybe next episode will solve that.

…I don’t know how I’ll handle it if this just turns out to be another elaborate prank. I doubt we’ll ever find the REAL imouto until all of the harem members have an episode or two. …If there really even is an imouto.

To LOVE-Ru Darkness OVA – 01: I’m not familiar with this anime but it was fun. So this is a harem anime where some of the girls are aliens? I mistook them for demons because of the tails. Surprisingly, there was more fanservice than Hagure and Dakara Boku wa H ga Dekinai usually dish out. Certain parts and even the last scene nearly reached hentai territory. Incest scene!! Where’s the toothbrush when you need it?!

I usually stay away from these posts, but To-Love-Ru pulled me in (MIKAN!)

To-Love-Ru is a typical harem anime, but with a cast of girls I found memorable (I don’t think I disliked any of the characters, and I liked Momo and Nana). It didn’t have a plot (was more slice of life), but I found it great to watch. The manga ended abruptly, and then a “sequel” came out… Darkness has a lot more ecchi and borderline hentai scenes in them.

I attempted to watch Motto To Love Ru when it came out, but I failed. Still decided to watch the OVA, and I had fun. Loved the moment with Mikan; it reminded me of a certain scene from Nisemonogatari. Does the show generally go for the 3 separate stories method?

In Motto yes they typically have three “stories” thrown into each episode which involves something ecchi every time! The original ToLOVEru is more episodic than anything…that said Motto is a fun series and probably the best intro into Darkness xD

Campione! is really disappointing. It’s like a card battle show (or what I’d expect a card battle show to be, since I haven’t actually watched one). Two guys standing around taking punches. The on-the-run battles with Erica and Liliana were good, and exciting, but Godou’s Words of Power are *yaaaaawwwwwwn*. I can understand that the Campione are really powerful, but it’s like watching a long-range artillery battle.

To Love Ru is in my backlog list, so I’ve been holding off on this OVA.

I think Imouto’s just going to keep spinning its wheels until we get to the big reveal at the end of the show. No definitive progress, no actual facts, no narrowing it down, until, who knows, maybe Ikuzu (*snerk*, that name cracks me up) drugs all the girls and takes DNA samples.

Boku H: That was not the episode I was expecting, and I was happily surprised at how much actual depth there seemed to be to the story. I think the last two episodes have really gone a long way towards redeeming the show, and catching it up to something equivalent to where DxD was at this point in the season (DxD started off a lot stronger, then foundered on a few side stories) but with more actual momentum heading into the last half. I’d be amazed if the next episode doesn’t start with Ryousuke refusing Quele, because I think he’s really in love with Lisara. Mina’s confession was definitely cliched, but you can’t really have much of a harem if the first girl locks him down before the show even starts, can you.

Campione – definitely screams UBW. But I still liked it, especially when the swords changed design when the new target god is Osiris.
And in defense of Godou using the Goat, this was his first time using it and it’s just shooting lightning bolts. No need to be moving and all when it’s just gonna be spamming lightning. So yeah.
Overall, I still liked this episode. We still haven’t seen 2 of his Authorities and if next episode goes to volume 4, we’ll get to see it and more of the drawling speeches that Godou is always doing in battles.

Hagure – And to think that contest is a long time tradition in the beach. Classy.
Leave it to Akatsuki to turn the game upside down by him stripping the ones after him and taking advantage of the rules by hiding anywhere. Still a fun episode, with a plot happening parallel to it.

Imouto – “Cute cat girl or little sister?” Why not both? :3
I admit it could have ended last episode by just picking one of the osananajimis but the show has to fill in 8 more episodes just because. And while it seems stupid, I still find this show very enjoyable. Best not to think much about the imouto business as I’m sure no conclusion will be given in the last episode, as expected of any harem shows.

Imouto- …Not to mention that they have yet to have Shougo get into awkward situations with the student council harem members yet. Ahaha, don’t worry, I’m finding this really (stupid yet) enjoyable as well. …I’m just going to be extremely doubtful of any and all imoutos through the rest of this anime’s run, but yeah, I should probably assume that they’re not going to tell us who the imouto is at all. Why give the viewers closure when they can make 4 more seasons of nonsense and cash in on DVD sales?

Imouto? sure is the ditzy harem show of the season. I think preseason most people thought KoiChoco would be matching it, but instead it’s leveled up to KoiSenkyo and is kicking butt with a great story (tho almost no romance, which I keep dinging it for). There’s no way they’re going to rule out any characters until the last 5 minutes of Episode 12, if even then, but I sure wouldn’t see this show getting another season. There’s so little that’s actually there.

Yeah, but even if there’s more story written about it, this series has gone absolutely nowhere, and doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere. That’s something that might play in LN’s, but an anime audience is going to get tired of it pretty quick (like pretty much everyone already is, from what I read). Plus, there’s plenty of other ecchi setups to fill the time.

At least, that’s what I figure. I don’t know if Imouto? is doing particularly well or poorly for an ecchi series (the aniblogosphere commentariat is not necessarily a good guide for the popularity of straight up boob shows, since we like to see some story, too).

…I honestly don’t know if it’s doing well in Japan either (I know the novels do pretty well). I just figure that most anime these days aren’t really conclusive since they’re normally based on something unfinished and want to leave an opening for another season. Imouto will probably be the same. If it actually gets one is the question.

Campione! — 07: This was an epic episode where it concerns the battling but I wish Goudou could do it without constantly resorting to the power of words. I admire all the powers he mounted against the Duke. A lot of variety and he just added another girl to his harem. A king with his knights and mistress. Mariya is kissing now. Man, there is almost as much saliva sharing here as in Nazo no Kanojo X. Erica is always underhanded. Blackmailing Liliana to gain the upper hand? Sneaky but effective.

“Right after her big speech about being a loyal knight?”

LOL. Desperate times call for desperate measures. She’s a knight, not a saint.

Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai — 07: I hate it when the lead is cocky and tries to recklessly run into a fight without a plan. Especially when it’s an enemy they don’t know and they don’t know how strong they are. It’s a good thing Ryousuke got a reality check beforehand to get some sense in. I’m not sure but I think Lisara’s mom is voiced by Yoko Hikasa. She sounded a lot like Campione’s Erica. I knew Quele was developing feelings for Ryousuke but I didn’t think she’d actually go ahead and try to nail him. But it’s obvious what is going to happen.

Hagure Yuusha no Estetica — 07: BEST BEACH EPISODE EVER!!! The freedom of stripping every girl in sight. How many perverted harem leads dream of such a possibility and actually have it?! Akatsuki is living their fantasy. Only he could make a game of tag into something like that and he likes to always completely strip Haruka. He must really like looking at her body saying he got carried away and she must be his type of girl. The guy even hunted her in the women’s shower. He just doesn’t care where he is. Now that the fun is out of the way thanks the story progression, I’m expecting a decent amount of fighting from here on. I already don’t like that Phil guy. I hope he gets owned by Akatsuki.

I was wondering if Aya Endou was voicing Lisara’s mom with a different inflection, so I looked it up, and it appears to be Aya Hisakawa (according to Wikipedia, the Boku H MAL page is really incomplete).